


Nightmares

by NickelDragon



Series: The Healer's Journal [2]
Category: Harry Potter - Hogwarts Mystery, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cursed Vaults (Harry Potter), Cursed Vaults don't leave you unscarred, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff, Gen, Genderfluid! Rowan, Not Beta Read, Self-Comfort, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NickelDragon/pseuds/NickelDragon
Summary: They have finally beat the second Cursed Vault, the ice has melted, and the castle is returning back to normal. Though as the days pass since the vault was taken care of, Rowan has begun to notice that their friend has been acting off.Oneshot!





	Nightmares

The cold seeped into her bones, she felt the ice creeping up her leg quickly, far too quickly for what it was. She heard her friends, Penny and Bill, begin their incantations for Incendio, as it went further than her legs. She tried to move, shifting and trying to pull herself. But then she saw the roaring red flame of the Incendio spell, from both her left and right side, and it swallowed her vision in a sea of reds, oranges, and yellows. Her eyes scrunched shut as she felt the heat overtake her, the pain from it, the scream retching itself from her throat in pain.

* * *

 

Philomena’s body lurched from her bed, the scream dying in her throat just as soon as it started, and her eyes moving rapidly around the room she was in. A sigh of relief escaping her after her adrenaline from the dream had died down, calming dramatically at the familiar green and grey coloration of the Slytherin Dormitory. Her arms moved up to hug herself, as she unconsciously chattered at the phantom cold, despite the fact that it was just starting to be summer again. It took some rubbing of her shoulders, some deep breathing, and telling herself that she was okay.

When the fear passed, Philomena would shift so that she could push up from the bed, and move as silently as she could to the window. It wasn’t too far, only between her bed and the bed to her left that Rowan was currently passed out in. Her friend twisted in her bed towards the sound of Philomena moving, which caused Philomena to pause her movements until she was sure that they were asleep.

The curtains were pulled open, revealing the early morning light, and that what was caused a groan to escape her. These dreams had been happening before, the topic the same but the specifics were always different. She moved away from the window, the curtains falling back into their position, and began to get ready. Her uniform pulled on, and books grabbed from where she kept them and quietly made her way down the stairs towards the Slytherin Common Room.

* * *

 

Rowan was pushed into awareness from their nap, rubbing their eyes and sitting up in their bed. A good chunk of students were actually gone from the beds, some made up while some were not, but some were either waking up or getting ready. Rowan looked over, towards the bed that their friend lied in, and as they were about to say the normal

“Good Morning.”

But…her bed was empty. This pulled Rowan from the warmth of their bed, and to start pulling on their uniform. Thoughts of where she could have been flitted through their head as they began heading for the stairs, and down into the common room.

The room itself was filled with various students of different years, but Rowan grew a bit spooked as their Prefect made his way over to the younger wizard. They felt a bit of sweat run down the back of their neck, nerves taking hold as their mental state. What happened? Why are they approaching me?

“Khanna.”

His voice slightly stern, and lightly tinted with a French-sounding tone. They looked into the man’s eyes, and notice a hint of concern which was flickering in his eyes.

“What is it, Felix. Everything okay?”

He came in closer and made a jerking sort of motion towards one of the study desks, if not the most prolific one in the room. Oddly, the desk was being used by someone, despite the time being somewhere in the morning. Rowan would simply let out a groan, realizing who was currently using the thing.

“She’s been there since I have woken up. Which was a few hours before the rest of you awoke. Perhaps it might be good to check on her.”

“Thanks, Felix.”

With that, Rowan would begin to move through the hoards of preteens and teenagers and approach the pale-haired girl. Philomena didn’t seem to realize her friend was there at first, scribbling notes down as she read through a book on medical practices. Rowan waits a little bit, until the pale witch closes the book (a few minutes really), before tapping the shoulder of their friend. Philomena jumps slightly, swiveling around with a look of surprise and nervousness. That expression shifts into relief, but Rowan doesn’t seem to focus on that, more on the growing discolored circles under her eyes. She would then quickly try to hide it and say with an amenable tone

“Mornin’ there Ro’. Did’nae believe ye were up. Its early innit?”

Rowan huffs before she says

“People are up, Mena… Did you even sleep?”

“I slept.”

“How long?”

Her amber eyes flicker away from her friend, seemingly unable to speak. Rowan would merely move one of their hands to her shoulder

“Mena—”

“Rowan…I got enough to function. It's okay.”

“Philomena, it's not okay! You are going to run yourself into the ground at the rate you are going!”

“Don’t ye think I know that! Do ye think I want to wake up afraid and paranoid every night!”

The sound around them died down, and Rowan watches their friend’s face drop into shock again, before it steeled itself. They watched as their friend picked up her book, saying nothing as they cleaned up their stuff.

“Mena…” Rowan took a step forward “Mena, I’m sorry.”

She said nothing, and moved outside of the common room, away from where Rowan was.

In the end, hours of being away from one another transformed into days, their friend group reeling at the fact the seemingly thick as thieves were not talking. Rowan was only able to watch their friend run themselves further into the ground, a sense of dread pooling in their gut. Their mind was scrambling for a while, trying to figure out exactly how to fix it.

* * *

 

Philomena ended up stumbling into the common room later into the evening when the common room was mostly empty as everyone was likely in bed. She rubbed her eyes as she felt the Wideeye potion wear off. She made a quick mental note, to see if she could get Penny to make another one for her.

“Mena?”

The pale haired witch’s head went up quickly, now noticing the quickly approaching wizard, as they rubbed their eyes as well.

“Did ye wait up for me Rowan?”

“Maybe.”

“Ye didn’t need too.”

“I wanted too.”

Moments ticked by, as silence quickly overtook them. She coughed slightly before stating “If that’s all…”

“No no…I just…wanted to give you this.”

They would quickly hold out a bar of chocolate, and Philomena quickly realized it was her favorite brand, the one from Honeydukes.

“When did ye get this, Rowan?”

“I..I had Bill go get it for me. I gave him some coin for it. It's an apology gift.”

Philomena holds it in her hands quickly, looking it over before looking at Rowan, probably for the first time in a while. They looked a bit of a mess, with slight eye bags and reddish eyes. They looked horrible.

“I was worried about you. I was...I was afraid because I know what that paranoia feels like.” Rowan can hear the sharp intake of breath from Philomena

“Oh…Oh, Merlin Ro’… I didn’t realize.”

“It's all good. I don’t want to guilt you, don’t think that at all. It’s more that I want you to know I’m there for you. That I just want you to know that if you need anything, I’m there for you.”

Rowan seems to pause, looking away from the teen, and especially jolted as he heard the girl sniffling. He swiveled up, and saw tears form in her eyes, and begin to fall.

“Oh Merlin’s beard, Mena…I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’ve been…having dreams of being frozen Ro’.” She hiccups slightly, the tears rolling down her cheeks now “Sometimes it is me who gets frozen, sometimes it's watching others get frozen and being unable to help… I feel so helpless, that I lead them to their death, Ro’…”

“Oh…Mena…t-they didn’t die though. They are alive and still here, you made it.”

“But for how long Ro’…How long until something horrible happens again.”

At this, Rowan would hug the more slender witch, as she cried a little more but now into their chest.

“But will you ever give it up, Mena? The search for your brother, I mean.”

“…I can’t give it up.”

“Then the best we can do is plan, and plan, and prepare, and prepare for as much as we can think. That’s all..”

The two would fall silent, save for the labored huffs from Philomena. It would take a bit, at least for the girl to stop crying, and then the two would separate.

“Y-Yeah…Yeah, that’s all we can do eh?” Mena hiccuped and laughed a bit, though it sounded melancholy “Thank you, Ro’.”

“I hope I helped, Mena.”

“You did.” A nod and also pat their shoulder “But…I’m thinking opening up this chocolate bar will help too.”

Rowan laughs now, glad to hear that she was a bit better

“Yeah. Mind sharing it?”

“Sure. I’m game.”


End file.
